Nature as a subject of law: an analysis of current literature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18041/2215-8944/academia..12771Keywords:
Rights of nature, environmental regulations, sustainable development, bibliometric analysis, environmental justiceAbstract
This article analyses scientific production related to nature as a subject of law, a concept that has emerged as an innovative response to the global environmental crisis. Based on a bibliometric analysis of the literature published between 2020 and 2024, the trends, key actors and emerging thematic areas in this field are explored. The study focused on identifying how the recognition of the rights of nature transformed traditional legal frameworks and promoted a more ecocentric approach to environmental protection. A systematic review of the Scopus database was carried out, using Excel and the database's own tools to analyse scientific production. The indicators of temporal evolution, geographical distribution, collaboration networks and the co-occurrence of keywords were examined. In addition, VOSviewer was used to visualise thematic and collaborative networks. A growth in scientific production was identified, with a growing interest in topics such as the rights of nature, environmental regulations and sustainable development. The Russian Federation, Ukraine and Poland stood out as the main contributors. The most recurrent keywords reflected the centrality of law and environmental protection in the research. The results suggest that the recognition of the rights of nature has gained global relevance, although its implementation faces significant challenges. The need for interdisciplinary approaches and the integration of local perspectives and ancestral knowledge systems to strengthen legal frameworks and promote sustainability was evident. This study provides an overview of the current state of research on nature as a subject of law, underlining the importance of continuing to explore global and local perspectives to advance towards more effective and fair legal frameworks.
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